


Of Stolen Hoodies and Found Homes

by MirTheOne



Series: Stolen Tethers and Woven Threads [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: - very brief mentions dw, Child Abandonment, Dream really saw a small child and goes Ah Yes, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, My brother now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27760261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirTheOne/pseuds/MirTheOne
Summary: Clay caught a child stealing his hoodie, ended up adopting him instead~.~.~.~.~.~Basically a build-up to brotherly Dream and Purpled because DAMN IT THEIR DYNAMIC IS UNDERRATED
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Grayson | Purpled (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Stolen Tethers and Woven Threads [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030716
Comments: 27
Kudos: 342





	Of Stolen Hoodies and Found Homes

**Author's Note:**

> AU notes: basically in this au villagers and such are normal humans, while the people with minecraft mechanic powers are called builders. Builders can respawn and age 10 times slower than normal humans when they reach 6 years old, so yeah you see why some parents might not want their child?
> 
> Also Purpled is physically 6 and Dream is 10 but funky builder aging

Of all the things Clay expected to see when he entered his bedroom, a six-years-old child rummaging through his closet was _not_ one of them. 

"...What are you doing?" 

The child’s head jerked towards him, eyes wide in alarm. Oh, he was clearly not expecting him to be home. For a couple moments, they just stood there and stared at each other, neither daring to make the first move. Then... 

The child disappeared in a purple mist. 

Clay blinked. 

He blinked once. Twice. The door behind him creaked and he turned around just in time to see the child scurrying out of the room.

The door slammed behind him.

"What the hell?!" 

Clay was definitely not expecting a teleporting child in his room. Belatedly, he realized that the child had a green hoodie in his hands. _Clay's_ green hoodie. 

_No one_ stole from him and got away with it. 

"COME BACK HERE!" Clay shouted, ripping the door open. Surprisingly, the child is still in his living room, preoccupied with attempting to take the bread Clay left on the table. 

Unfortunately for him though, he was _way_ too small to actually grab it. 

Clay lunged at the child and tackled him to the ground. In his arms, the child _shrieked._

"I got you, you little-" 

"DON’T TOUCH ME!" 

"No, wait- Stop-" The child thrashed in Clay's arms, struggling to break free. In response, Clay pinned him with his body, putting a _little_ pressure on him, though not enough to hurt him."STOP THAT!" 

He's still thrashing though, and Clay opted to simply let him tire himself out. It wasn’t as if he could break free, seeing how _small_ and _bony_ he was. True enough, within minutes the child has stopped struggling, albeit with small, choked sobs breaking out.

 _Finally,_ he thought.

Clay turned the child around, facing him. His hands gripped the child’s arms tight, still careful to not hurt him. It didn't look like the child can... do whatever what he did when someone was touching him, and Clay would rather not have him teleporting away after all that struggle to contain him. 

"Are you done?" 

The child did not answer, instead clutching at the hoodie in his arms with tears welling up in his eyes. Clay assumed that's a yes. 

"Okay." Prime, Clay is _not_ equipped to handle a child this young. "Okay, I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I just- I just want to talk." 

The child glared at him with narrowed, untrusting, _purple_ eyes. Clay had seen many things in his life, but such vibrant purple eyes was not one of them. He stopped his sobs though, and he didn't try to thrash and run either, so Clay counted that as a win.

"Okay." Clay let go of one of the child's arms, running it through his own hair. "Um, hi. I'm Clay. I live here. What's your name?" 

The child mumbled something, too quiet for him to hear. Clay sighed. 

"I can’t hear you.” 

"…Grayson."

 _Okay, good,_ he thought. _Progress._

"Hi Grayson," Clay said, forcing a tentative smile. _Small children likes smiles, right?_ "So uh, what were you doing in my closet?" 

Grayson shuffled in silence for a bit, still hugging his hoodie tight. Clay would push, but he _really_ would prefer the child staying calm. So instead, he let the blond boy stew in silence. 

"Food," the child whispered after a minute or so. "Or money. You have really warm hoodies. I like them, and it's really cold outside. " 

Clay took a sharp intake of breath. 

He had an inkling that Grayson is homeless, what's with how he's stealing from a slum house and how thin he is, but to hear what is basically a confirmation... What even _was_ such a young child doing in the streets? He should be in an orphanage, or at least with a group of fellow orphans.

"Wait, you’re alone? Do you _not_ have anyone with you?" 

Grayson shrugged. He buried his face in the hoodie, refusing to meet Clay's eyes. 

"I don't have anyone," came the muffled reply. "No one wants a builder child." 

Oh, _no._

 _He's really not equipped to handle this._

But he couldn't just let Grayson walk back out into the world, even if he gave him money and food. Not after how Clay himself had been kicked out for the exact same reason. Not after the months upon years of struggle he had, living alone and uncared for, ignored because _he’s not normal._

If he let Grayson go, Clay didn't know how he would live with himself. 

_Okay,_ he thought, tallying his supplies and possessions. 

Clay used to struggle to feed himself, but that's no longer the case, wasn't it? He's now comfortable enough, between the odd jobs and the occasional stealing, to stay alive. He _should_ be able to take in another. 

He would live, and he could support Grayson too. If he threw Grayson back on the streets, Grayson _would_ live, but not without several unpleasant deaths this winter. Clay knew that from experience. 

He couldn't allow that to happen, not without nightmares possibly haunting him for the rest of his life. 

Clay took a deep breath and took in the child in front of him. His face was no longer buried in the hoodie, now peeking out of them fearfully. He still refused to meet Clay's eyes though, seemingly finding the boring grey floor _very_ interesting.

"I'm going to let you go now," Clay warned. "Can you promise me you won't... teleport away?" 

Grayson nodded, and slowly, as if facing a scared animal, Clay let the boy go. The purple-eyed child - _now how did_ that _happen_ \- visibly relaxed, but made no moves to run. Clay released the breath he didn’t know he was holding.  
"I have food," he offered. In front of him, Grayson stilled. "I have money, and uh, I have a spare bed. I can share that with you, if you want." 

Now Grayson's eyes snapped to meet his. There's a spark in them, pupils widening with glee. He reminded Clay of the street cat he fed, really. 

"Really?" The boy squeaked. "You want me to stay?"

A tentative, yet hopeful smile grew on Grayson's face, and Clay's heart _melted._

"Yeah!" He replied excitedly, a smile growing on his own face. "I'm a builder too! We can be builder buddies! Builder roomies!" 

Grayson's face brightened like a thousand suns, and he launched himself forward.

"That's so cool! I've never met another builder before!" 

"Believe it or not, you're also the first builder I ever met, which makes you the coolest one I know too," Clay said, ruffling Grayson's hair. The child giggled, swatting away at him. "Now let's get you something to eat, yeah?" 

Clay led Grayson to the table, helping him get on the chair when he struggled. He’s going to have to go out and buy more bread, but as he watched Grayson gleefully scarf down on his bread, Clay couldn’t help but think, _yeah, I can get used to this._

**Author's Note:**

> Dream really went "how do i Child" as if he's not a child himself
> 
> Join the [MCYT Discord server!](https://discord.gg/qAt8tfg)


End file.
